Konnect Daily

Tips For Making an Editor Your Bestie

Being BFFs with an editor is extremely beneficial to getting top-tier press for your clients. Whether you work in lifestyle, food & beverage or franchise PR, it’s important to form genuine relationships with the people you pitch on a day-to-day basis. On the whole, editors receive hundreds of emails a day from publicists and brands, so it’s important to build a strong relationship as a credible source of credible information and newsworthy story angles. If you’re friendly with an editor and build a strong reputation for yourself, you’ll have a much better chance of landing the kind of press you and your clients want.

As we all know from our younger years spent on the playground, you can’t just make someone be your best friend, but if you follow the below tips you’ll be buddy-buddy with your favorite editors in no time.

Research your editor

It’s so important to take the time to research an editor before pitching them. This includes looking through their past articles as well as their various social media handles. When you’ve put in the time to find out what topics and activities are of interest to the editor, you’re better able to tailor your pitch to their exact needs. Then you’re not just asking them to feature your client, you’re showing them whythey should cover your client. If an editor recently went vegan, they’re probably not going to cover your jerky brand. Similarly, if they are extremely anti-Keto, they’re not going to care about your Keto-approved snacks. Going the extra mile to research shows the editor you truly care about their time. For example: Hi X, I saw you recently worked on a story in X surrounding X topic and thought you might be interested in the below.OR Hi X, I saw on Instagram that you are planning to go vegan for the month and wanted to put this vegan product on your radar that might help curb some cravings!

If you’re scrolling through Instagram and notice a certain editor/writer recently got promoted, ran a marathon, got a pet, moved into a new apartment or just got back from vacation – email them about it! It helps to add a personal touch to your emails and shows editors that you’re invested in their lives outside of needing them to cover your clients. When applicable, it’s also super helpful to send them a package of products as a “congratulations.” This is a great way to showcase your clients without your standard run-of-the-mill pitch.

If you’re in the same city as an editor, invite them to coffee, breakfast, lunch or dinner! Obviously, it’s not easy to pin down an editor for a long period of time, but make the effort to take them to a coffee shop/restaurant near their office. Having face-to-face time helps build your relationship. While meeting with them in person is beneficial for work, don’t spend the whole time talking about work. Instead, ask them about their personal lives. How are their pets/boyfriends/girlfriends/wives/husbands/etc. doing? Are they planning a vacation anytime soon? Are they about to climb a mountain? Talk to them like you would talk to your best friend. The little tidbits you learn from your face-to-face time will help you continue to build a relationship with the editor. If you can’t get out of the office to take them to coffee, shoot them an email! You can ask the same questions you would ask in-person, just make sure you don’t make it all about work and try and be more open with them.

These are just a few ways to get on an editor’s good side. It all comes down to showing them you care and not wasting their time pitching them something they will never cover. Spend the extra hour researching editors, connecting with them in a meaningful way and showing them why your pitch is worth reading during their limited time.